


Sweet Surrender

by elem (elem44)



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Episode Tag, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-10
Updated: 2017-06-10
Packaged: 2018-11-12 15:08:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11164440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elem44/pseuds/elem
Summary: A Worst Case Scenario episode addition. Kathryn and Chakotay reflect on the day and the past.





	Sweet Surrender

Chakotay strolled through the Ready room doors, his eyes scrolling through the information on the padd he was holding. He stopped in front of her desk and looked up, surprised to find no one there.

“Up here, Commander.” She was sitting sideways on the couch by the viewport, with one leg bent beneath her and her chin resting on her hand as she watched the blur of stars whiz by.

“Captain?” he placed the padd on her desk and walked up the stairs towards her.

She patted the seat next to her, and nodded towards the coffee service on the table. “Have a seat, Chakotay and help yourself to a coffee. Was that anything important?” Referring to the padd that he’d just left on her desk.

“No. It was just the transporter maintenance report. Nothing exciting.”

“Good. We’ve had enough excitement for one day.” He noticed now that she her mug was sitting on the ledge behind the couch and as he poured himself a small cup and added cream and sugar, she took a sip of hers and sighed. “God, I love this stuff.”

He chuckled. “I’ve noticed. But how you can drink it black and unsweetened is beyond me.” He lifted his cup in salute. “Iron Guts Janeway.”

She gave him a dour look. “I don’t know how you can adulterate it with cream and sugar. What a waste.”

Smiling, he shrugged and took a sip. “Each to his own, I suppose.”

Her eyes drifted to the stars again and noticing her preoccupation, he placed his cup on the table and touched her knee as he spoke. “Are you alright Kathryn?”

She turned around and gave him a warm smile. “Yes, I’m fine. I was just thinking about today and what happened on the holodeck.”

Chakotay frowned, and shaking his head, whispered. “Seska.”

Kathryn grunted out a derisive laugh. “The proverbial bad penny. But I wasn’t really thinking of her, I was thinking more of the whole mutiny idea.” She turned fully towards him and tucked her other knee up beside her. “I know I joked about it during the briefings, but did you ever think of doing it, Chakotay? Did the thought ever cross your mind to stage a mutiny?”

He raised his eyebrows and shook his head. “A mutiny? No. Never.”

She frowned a little. “Really? I find that hard to believe.”

“You think I’m lying?”

She patted his thigh. “No. I’m not accusing you of lying, but surely it must have entered your mind on one or two occasions early in the voyage? I know, had our places been reversed, I’m sure I would have thought about it.”

He picked up his cup again and sipped, then shook his head. “As I said. Each to his own. But for me? No, it was never an option.”

She frowned again and looked at him a little disbelievingly.

How could he explain? “Do you remember in that first week, when B’Elanna punched Joe Carey?” Kathryn nodded and smiled. “Well, rumours were rife about how you were going to toss her in the brig or drop her off at the nearest M class planet. Several Maquis approached me. They were ready to act, if and when I wanted to take over the ship. I told them that if I ever heard talk like that again that I would toss _their_ asses in the brig and throw away the key.”

“Really!? I’m…. amazed.” Her frown deepened as she watched him sip his coffee. “Chakotay?”

He turned towards her. “Hmmm.”

“Can I ask you why? It seems a little unusual under the circumstances.”

He continued to sip his coffee and managed to look everywhere but at her.

She prodded. “Chakotay?”

He shrugged. “It would have been crossing the line. I’d been a Starfleet officer for many years remember. I may have turned my back on some of my principles, but not all of them.”

Kathryn chuckled. “Somehow I don’t think you compromised a single principle, Chakotay. You were fighting for your people’s survival and what was right. I think that the truth will out some day, if it hasn’t already.” She looked at the stars.

He cocked his head to the side and studied her profile. There was more to this than met the eye. “Thank you, Kathryn. That means a lot to know that you feel that way. I have to say though, your attitude is a little unusual.”

She shrugged this time, but kept her eyes on the stars. “Well, I know a little about the Cardassians and their ‘principles’. It never did sit comfortably with me – the whole Cardassian alliance and how the Maquis were painted as the enemy.” Her eyes met his. “I’m not saying that you were all fighting the good fight. There were plenty of thugs and malcontents amongst you, but I could see how Starfleet’s hard-line policies made it necessary for an independent militia like the Maquis to evolve.”

“I’m astonished, Kathryn. I’d assumed you toed the Starfleet line.”

She shook her head. “See, we learn something new about each other everyday don’t we?”

He raised his eyebrows and smiled in response.

Kathryn looked out the window again. “I’ve always had a feeling they sent me on this mission as a test of sorts. It was all very political and I probably won’t ever know for sure, but they knew how I felt about the Cardassians.”

“How do you feel about the Cardassians, Kathryn?” He had an uneasy feeling about this and his hand shook as he lifted his cup to his mouth.

He saw her jaw clench and her eyes blink slowly, although she answered calmly. “I hate them. I was their ‘guest’ on one occasion. Something that I wouldn’t ever care to repeat.”

He reached for her. “Oh Spirits, Kathryn. I’m… I … I don’t know what to say. I didn’t know.”

“It’s alright, Chakotay. I was rescued before…. well, before….” She took another sip of her coffee. “I was an ensign and taken prisoner with Tom’s father while on a reconnaissance mission. I spent several days in a Cardassian prison cell frightened out of my wits. They made sure I could hear Owen’s screams as he was tortured. It was all designed to terrorise and intimidate me. They wanted me to know what was in store for me. I still have the odd nightmare you know.”

Chakotay nodded, his face crumpling a little, and then he too turned to look out the window.

Kathryn lay her hand over his where it rested on the back of the couch. “Of course you know.”

He gave her a sympathetic look.

They were quiet for a time as they tried to turn their minds away from the thoughts and feelings this conversation had evoked.

Kathryn eventually leant forward and refilled her cup. She offered some more to Chakotay, but he declined. Sitting back she watched him from the corner of her eye. “You still haven’t told me why you didn’t stage a mutiny. It was obviously something that Tuvok thought was likely, or he wouldn’t have written that training scenario. Why didn’t you, Chakotay?”

He put his cup down on the table and looked directly at her. “Do you really want to know, Kathryn?”

“Yes. I wouldn’t have asked otherwise.”

“You may not like the answer.”

“I won’t know until I hear it.” She smiled at him.

He heaved a sigh, knowing that this had the potential to ruin everything. Their command relationship, their friendship, everything.

She prodded again. “Chakotay?”

He sat up straight. “I couldn’t have led a mutiny against you Kathryn because I was in love with you.”

She blinked slowly then nodded her head. She seemed unperturbed by this revelation but Chakotay noticed her knuckles whiten as she tightened her grip on her coffee mug. “I thought as much.” She gave him a wry smile. “I’m very glad you didn’t stage a mutiny because I wouldn’t have wanted to put you in the brig… or worse.”

It was his turn to look at her questioningly. “Can I ask you, why?”

She gave him a crooked smile. “The same reason. I was in love with you.”

He was lifting his hand to run his fingers through his hair but it stopped halfway and dropped back into his lap. “You were in love with me? Why didn’t you say something?”

“I could ask you the same. But surely you know the answer to that question. I’m the captain and it’s against regulations for me, as your superior officer, to make romantic or sexual advances towards someone under my command. You know the rules, Chakotay.”

“Yes, I know the rules, I just didn’t think they would apply so rigidly out here. I should have known better. Couldn’t you have given me a hint or something?”

Kathryn rolled her eyes. “No. But that was a long time ago now.”

He nodded. “Yes it was.”

“I hope you’re not going to stage a mutiny now that it’s over.”

“Now what’s over, Kathryn?”

“Well, you did say that you ‘were’, past tense, in love with me. I figured that a mutiny might be back on the agenda.” She tried to make light of it, but her laugh was hollow and her smile didn’t reach her eyes.

He looked at her and could see her pulse fluttering in her neck. She wasn’t as calm as she appeared. He knew her too well.

“No it’s not back on the agenda.”

“Good.”

Chakotay watched her carefully and decided that this was an opportunity that he couldn’t let pass. He’d let too many slip by already. “Don’t you want to know why, Kathryn?”

Her eyes widened and her voice husked. “Why?”

He shuffled closer and lifted a shaky hand towards her face. His fingers caressed the pulse point on her neck and her skin shivered under his touch. “The reason has always been the same.” His eyes met hers. “I’m in love with you.”

“Oh.”

He nodded. “I never stopped.” His fingers were trailing along her jaw and sliding into her hair. “Am I going to finish up in the brig… or worse?”

She shook her head. “No, not this time. You see… I never stopped loving you either.” A shiver trickled down her spine as his fingers slipped into her hair and caressed the back of her head.

His gaze had been following his hand, but he now looked deeply into her eyes. “Does it say somewhere in those regulations that it’s permitted for a commanding officer to accept romantic and sexual advances from a subordinate?”

Kathryn gave a nod and a husky, “Yes, it does.” in answer.

“I’m liking these regulations.” His thumb trailed along her bottom lip. “May I kiss you, Captain?”

“If you don’t, I’m going to kiss you and those regulations are not going to be worth a jot.”

“I’m a rebel, remember. Regulations are not my forte, but for the good of the command structure, I’m willing to make the sacrifice.”

“How noble of you.” They were smiling at one another and hovering very close. Kathryn started to fidget, but Chakotay just smiled. She couldn’t stand it any longer. “Oh for God’s sake, just kiss me, Chakotay.”

He laughed and pulled her towards him. Their lips met and they both groaned. Kathryn’s body went limp and fell towards his as his arms slid around her and pulled her close. The kiss was hot and demanding and as Kathryn opened her mouth under his, the kiss deepened. Their bodies and mouths moulded together and as her hands drifted up over his shoulders and around his neck, his arms wrapped around her and pulled her flush against him. Their tongues danced in and out of each other’s mouths, tasting and touching lightly. Perfect synchronicity. They pulled back for a moment to take a breath and then dove back together again. Kathryn could feel the heat rising and her heart beat loudly in her ears. He tasted divine. Sweet and creamy. She smiled against his lips and he pulled away and looked at her.

“Kathryn?”

“Sorry, Chakotay.” Still smiling she stroked her fingertips over his lips. “I was just thinking that maybe cream and sugar isn’t so bad after all.”

He grinned. “We do learn something new about each other everyday.”

She leaned in towards him again and brushed her lips across his as she whispered. “No mutinies then?”

He slid his mouth along her jaw and kissed under her ear, whispering hotly. “No. I surrender.”

_fin_


End file.
